Gun perforator cartridge



W. G. LANE GUN PERFORATOR CARTRIDGE Original Filed Nov. 12, 1932 Sept.7, 193 7.

Patented Sept. 7, 1937 PATENT OFFICE 2.092.317 GUN ram-"canon oan'ramonWili'red G. Lane, Los Angcles, Calii., assignor to The Technicrai'tEngineering Corp, Los Angeles, Call! a corporation of CaliforniaOriginal application November 12, 1932, Serial No. 642,410. Divided andthis application July 16, 1935, Serial No. 31,685

6 Claims.

' My invention relates to cartridges for gun ,periorators, and inparticular constitutes a division of my copending' application for Wellcasing periorator filed November 12, 1932, Serial No. 5 642,410, PatentNo. 2,062,794, Dec. 1, 1936. Among the objects of the present inventionare:

First, to provide a cartridge which is adapted to be fired electricallyby heating to incandes: cence a wireimbedded in the explosive charge;

Second, to provide a cartridge of this character wherein the fusiblewire extends substantially along the axis thereof and from end to endwhereby the charge is simultaneously ignited along the length-thereofand burns from the center of the cartridge toward the periphery, therebyfacilitating rapid and complete ignition oi the explosive charge; and

Third, to provide a cartridge of this character, which, being withoutpercussion 'caps or other detonating means, is particularly safe tohandle.

With these and other objects in view as may appear hereinafter,attention is directed to the drawing in which,

Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a gun unit with mycartridge shown in position and in elevation;

Figure 2 is a front end view-0t my cartridge;

Figure 3 is a longitudinal sectional view thereof taken through 3-3 ofFigure 2;

Figure 4 is a transverse sectional view thereof taken through 4-4ofiFigure 3; and,

Figure 5 is a rear end elevational view thereof.

As disclosed in my forementioned copending application, the cartridge isadapted to be used in a gun perforator which comprises generally acylindrical-body adapted to fit within a well casing and carrying a.plurality of laterally directed .gun units, which may be removable andone of which'is shown in Fig. 1. The gun body of the perforator is alsoprovided with an electrically operated controller to which the severalgun units are electrically connected individually. A special cable witha conductor core both sup- 5 ports the perforator and supplieselectrical energy to the controller and theseveral gun units.

As illustrated in Fig. 1, each gun unit comprises a chamber block Ihaving a screwthreaded enlargement la for connection to the gun body,not 0 shown. The chamber block I is bored to form a cartridge chamber lband co'unterbored and internally threaded outwardly from the chamber, asindicated by lc, to receive a correspondingly threaded barrel 2. As thegun unit is intended to be immersed, often, to great depths in liquid, asealing ring 3 is rovided around the breach end of the barrel. Thebarrel 2 is provided with a bore 2a therethrough, the muzzle end ofwhich is adapted to be closed by a sealing disk 4. Also, between thebreach end of the barrel and chamber lb there is provided an expansiondelaying and pressure localizing disk 5. A small opening which isenlarged adjacent the chamber lb extends from the. chamber rearwardlythrough the back end of the chamber block I. Said opening receives aninsulated contact pin 6 having a head 6a fitting the enlarged end of.the opening. The protruding or other end of the pin 6 is provided with asuitable contact clip 6b for connection with a contact plate, not shown,within the gun body. A bullet l fits in the-barrel bore 2a. Theforegoing construction forms no part of the present invention except asit relates to the cartridge construction set forth hereinafter.

My cartridge is adapted to fit within the chamber lb and comprises acylindrical shell H of insulating material closed at its ends by disksl2 and I3 also formed of insulating material. The disks l2 and iii arepressed into the ends of the shell and lit tight enough to withstandhandling.

The interior of the cartridge is filled with an explosive I4, preferablya fast burning powder. By reason of the fact that the cartridge is usedin a gun unit of extremely short barrel and fired under liquid andsumcient force must be applied to drive a relatively heavy bulletthrough as many as three strings of casing, it is necessary to pack theexplosive quite tightly in the cartridge. This is contrary. toconventional practice in standard rifle or pistol cartridges. Thepacking of the explosive tends to retard its burning.

In order to ameliorate this condition, the explosive is ignited by afusible wire ll which extends from end to end of the cartridge andsubstantially along its axis. Upon completing an electrical circuitthrough the wire, said wire ignites the explosive throughout the lengthof the cartridge instead of one end only with the result that thedistance which the fire must be propagated is reduced to a minimum.

Each of the disks I2 and I3 is provided withga centrally disposedterminal pin l8 comprising a head We at the outer side of the disk and ashort stem l8b which extends through the disk and is soldered orotherwise secured to the igniting wire H. The pin I8 carried by theforward disk I2 is provided with a double ended spring clip l9 while asingle end spring clip 20 is secured to the other pin l8. The end of theclip 20 is bent over the head of the corresponding pin l8 and is adaptedto engage the head 6a of the contact pin 3 as shown in Fig. 1, while theclip 89 engages the disk 5 and is grounded thereby to the gun unit andgun body.

Though I have shown and described a particular embodiment of myinvention, I do not wish to be limited thereto but desire to include inthe scope of. my invention such embodiments as are embraced in theappended claims.

' I claim:

1. The combination with a gun unit fo un type well casing perforators,wherein the gun unit is provided with a cartridge receiving chamher, acurrent supplying contact at one end of the chamber and a groundingmeans at the opposite end of the chamber, of a cartridge structurecomprising: a receptacle adapted to contain a charge of explosiveincorporating a-cylindrical shell and disk-shaped ends; and a fusiblewire extending between the ends of said receptacle and adapted to beheated electrically to ignite the explosive, said fusible wire beinglonger than said receptacle whereby an end may be separated from theshell to permit filling while remaining attached to said fusible wire.

2. The combination with a gun unit for gun type well casing perforators,wherein the gun unit is provided with a cartridge receiving chamber, acurrent supplying contact at one end of the chamber and a groundingmeans at the opposite end of the chamber; of a cartridge structurecomprising: a receptacle incorporating a cylindrical shell anddisk-shaped plugging ends all of insulating material and provided withterminals in its ends engageable with said current supplying contact andsaid grounding means respectively; an explosive charge within thereceptacle; and a fusible wire substantially centrally disposed withinthe explosive charge and joined to the terminals, said wire being longerthan said shell whereby one end may be separated from the shell whileattached to said wire to permit filling of the re-- ceptacle.

3. The combination with a gun unit for gun type well casing perforators,wherein the gun unit is provided with a cartridge receiving chamber, acurrent supplying contact at one end of the chamber and a groundingmeans at the opposite aoeasir spectively; an explosive charge packed inthe receptacle to the extent that its burning rate is impaired; and anigniting wire extending the length of the receptacle and joined to theterminals, said wire disposed substantially centrally with respect tothe explosive charge and simultaneously operable throughout its lengthto ignite the explosive charge in a manner to minimize the length of thefire propagation path, said wire being longer than said shell wherebyone end may be separated from the shell while attached to said wire topermit filling of the receptacle.

4. An explosive cartridge comprising: a receptacle adapted to contain acharge of explosive and incorporating a cylindrical shell and diskshapedends; and a fusible wire extending between the endsof said receptacleand adapted to be heated electrically to ignite the explosive, saidfusible wire being longer than said receptacle whereby an end may beseparated from the shell to permit filling while remaining attached tosaid fusible wire.

5. An explosive cartridge comprising: a receptacle incorporating acylindrical shell and disk-shaped plugging ends all of insulatingmaterial, and provided with terminals in its ends adapted to beconnected in an electrical circuit; an explosive charge within thereceptacle; and a fusible wire substantially centrally disposed withinthe explosive charge and joined to the terminals, said wire being longerthan said shell whereby one end may be separated from the shell whileattached to said wire to permit filling of the receptacle.

6. An explosive cartridge comprising: a receptacle incorporating acylindrical shell and disk-shaped plugging ends all of insulatingmaterial, and provided with terminals in its ends adapted to beconnected in an electrical circuit; an explosive charge packed in thereceptacle to the extent that its burning rate is impaired; and anigniting wire extending the length of the receptacle and joined to theterminals, said wire disposed substantially centrally with respect tothe explosive charge and simultaneously operable throughout its lengthto ignite the explosive charge in a manner to minimize the length of thefire propagation path, said wire being longer than said shell wherebyone end may be separated from the shell while attached to said wire topermit filling of the receptacle;

